Sweden clinched its spot in this summer’s World Cup with a 3-2 victory over Poland in a UEFA playoff final Tuesday, earning a dramatic late winner from Viktor Gyökeres and completing the group-stage picture for North Texas hosts.
The Scandinavians will use FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium in Frisco as their official team base camp training site during the 2026 tournament, a spokesman for FIFA World Cup 26 Dallas confirmed. The win, nearly 5,000 miles away, also locked in Sweden’s place in Group F and filled the final open slot in Dallas’ schedule.
Sweden will face Japan on June 25 at AT&T Stadium — known as “Dallas Stadium” for the tournament — in Arlington. The team opens Group F against Tunisia in Guadalupe before meeting the Netherlands in Houston and Japan in Dallas.
The North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee announced earlier this month that Toyota Stadium and the under-construction Mansfield Stadium would serve as base camps, the primary training and operational hubs for participating teams. The winner of the Czechia-Denmark playoff heads to Mansfield.
Base camps are expected to draw fans of the national teams to the region.
North Texas is among the busiest U.S. host areas for the tournament, which opens June 11. Dallas Stadium will host nine matches, including two in the Round of 32, one in the Round of 16, and the semifinal on July 14.
The full group-stage schedule in the region is:
June 14: Netherlands vs. Japan (Group F)
June 17: England vs. Croatia (Group L)
June 22: Argentina vs. Austria (Group J)
June 25: Japan vs. Sweden (Group F)
June 27: Jordan vs. Argentina (Group J)
Sweden failed to win any of its six qualifying matches and finished last in its group, but advanced through the playoffs thanks to its UEFA Nations League ranking. Poland had twice equalized the score, but Sweden came out on top with an 88th-minute goal by Victor Gyökeres.
Poland had previously knocked Sweden out of the running for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.